Lessons on the Back of a Bike

I must have been in the first grade because it was the only year that my
brother, Doug, and I rode the same bus. And I must not have yet known how to ride a bike because I rode on the back of Doug's bicycle. In those days, bikes could have a flat metal piece over the rear wheel. I image it was for carrying things. We used it to carry an extra person.

Anyway, our home was situated in the middle of our farm giving us a lane about 1/4 mile long. Though it sure seemed longer than that in my memories. The point being, we rode our bikes to the end of the lane to catch the bus each morning. In the first grade, I rode on the back of Doug's bike.

On this particular day we headed off to catch the school bus, but my shoe was loose and began to fall off. So I placed my foot on the chain guard to push the shoe back on.  I'm not sure what happened next. I only know that in a moment, my shoe flew off, my sock flew off and my tiny foot found it's way into the spokes of the bicycle.

Meanwhile, Doug was pedaling feverishly as we were headed up the hill portion of the lane. He thought it was tougher because of the hill but, indeed, it was my foot causing the hold-up.

Fortunately, there was no broken bones, just some pain. The rest of the day is a blur. I don't know if or how any of us got to school. I do know that the inside of my ankle has a scar that looks much like a smallpox vaccination {ha!} and I have had a weak ankle all of my life.

But we learned a few good lessons. 

1. Keep your feet out away from the wheels and spokes. 
2. Tell the driver if you have a problem.

As we grew, Doug graduated from riding bicycles to riding motorcycles. Usually, getting a "ride' meant going around the drive. But there were a few other times I hitched a ride with Doug to a venue.

Now, I have never had a great sense of balance or equilibrium but I had to learn a lesson or two about riding a motorcycle too. You may have been on a motorcycle yourself, or maybe you have watched Motorcross racing on TV. If so, you realize that the motorcycle must lean into the curves. As it goes around the curve, it may seem that it is on its side nearly parallel to the ground.

My sense of equilibrium never really liked leaning into the curve. I was more apt to want to lean the opposite direction and make the bike stand up. However, resisting the lean only causes trouble. You will soon find yourself and the bike and the driver all flying in different directions.

It's much like this in our spiritual lives. Let's equate the bike with our lives and God as our driver. As the driver, he can see the bigger picture. As we ride along in the back, we are only seeing glimpses of what is ahead. 

Here are a few things we must do as we ride on the "cycle" of life:

1. Trust the driver (God). He sees what is coming up the road.
2. Talk to the driver. Tell him if you have a problem. He can solve it.
3. Lean into the curves. Don't resist. God knows what He is doing and He will get you through.

Trust with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6 

Mishaps in the Farm Kitchen

This post is inspired by a prompt at Mama's Losin' It,

 "Mistakes in the Kitchen".

Oh, those yummy biscuits!

photo credit Pixabay

I pulled out of the oven the most delectable biscuits I had ever made. They were browned to perfection.  I couldn't wait to serve them with supper. I had made biscuits a few times before, though we were a canned biscuit family for the most part.

But on this particular day, I made from scratch these lovely baking soda powder biscuits. They looked delicious, but that turned out to be as far as it went.

We all gathered for supper. 

Hungry, I am sure since we are talking about farm folks here. So after a short blessing, we all filled our plates and began to eat.

I'm not sure who was the first to bite into a biscuit, but what a surprise! A bitter aftertaste that sucked your lips in, leaving you wondering if there might be a lemon in your biscuit.

No. Not lemons, but how about BAKING SODA.

Yes. Unfortunately, I had used BAKING SODA instead of BAKING POWDER. It really makes quite a difference.

Now I was the baker in the family and THIS was out of character for me. It will definitely go down as an unforgettable event in our family.

In My Defense

I'm not the only one who had a mishap in the kitchen.

Photo credit: Pillsbury

I recall my younger brother and sister made Easy Cheesy Lemon Bars. These never made it to the table due to the dough tasting ritual in our family. (not to name names, Alex and Marcy)

Yes, it wasn't long into the process until they realized that they had put 1/2 CUP of salt into the mixture instead of 1/2 TEASPOON!

Mom did the math to see how many times we would need to double the recipe. It was such a large number. I think we would still be eating lemon bars today!

That dough went into the trash!

Moral of the story
God gives us the recipe for a godly life, if we don't follow the recipe to the letter, we may end up with a bad taste in our mouth. Follow God's law and you will "Taste and see that the Lord is good!" Psalm 34:8

What about you?
Any kitchen mishaps on your part?

Another Lesson from the Farm

This post is inspired by a prompt in the journal, "Reflections of a Mother's Heart". The Prompt: Did you ever have a special hideaway?"

 Each year, the challenge was different.

Once the hay was all in the barns, each of us would take the challenge. Somewhere in the huge stack of fresh hay bales was a tunnel. Not just a straight tunnel through the hay, but one that took various turns. Left. Right. Up. Down. Once, I remember a rather large opening in the middle.

It was a specialty of my brother Doug. He stacked the hay and created the tunnels. Not sure what got him started doing it. Maybe just for a challenge to change up the doldrums of stacking bale after bale in order. Or maybe the loft was just that much too large. All I know is that we enjoyed finding our way through.

Speaking of stacking bale after bale

I'm reminded that Doug took a lot of pride in stacking the most square and orderly wagon of hay. Back in the day, hay was not rolled up in a huge ball and left in the fields. It was baled into a rectangle. Some farms had a bale thrower which baled the hay and then threw the bales into a wagon. 

But on our farm

Wagon built by Dad & brother
maybe others

The bales were carefully stacked on the wagon usually by Doug. I laugh thinking about the times we hired some high school boy to come out and stack the hay. Those wagon loads were a sight to see. And many times, they didn't make it back to the barn before the hay was falling in every direction on the road.

Anyway, Doug took real pride in having an orderly load of hay, stacked nice and tight. They only thing that kept this from happening was ... uh, the driver which was usually Kandy or me. :(


Picture This

Doug takes the bale from the baler, carries it to the already stacked hay, and lifts the bale above his head to toss it up on the top row. About this time, there is a large clump of hay being baled, the driver realizes she must slow down or the baler will shear a pin due to too much hay at one time. So she puts her foot on the break. This causes a chain reaction. You know, 

"Every action has an equal and opposite reaction."

Since Doug is focused completely on tossing the bale up and back, he has no idea that the train of equipment is stopping.... uh, maybe somewhat abruptly. I think you know the result.

Usually, he wasn't all that happy with me,  I mean, whoever was driving. But the result was really six to one, half a dozen to the other. Because he didn't get happy over a sheared pin either.
And either probably resulted in extra work.

But regardless, we got the job done. 

And most of the time we drove into the barnyard with a beautifully stacked wagon of hay. 

I'm not sure who or how Doug was trained, but there was certainly an example set before him. It may have been Uncle George. Here is a picture of him and my big sister climbing one of those lovely wagons of hay. 

Climbing the Hay Wagon

Doug and Kandy 1962

Lesson Learned

1 Corinthians 14:40(NLT)  be sure that everything is done properly and in order.

Whatever you do should be done properly. If you do it well the first time, you don't have to go back a correct the problem. If hay is stacked haphazardly, it usually will fall causing a huge clean-up job and lost time.

1 Corinthians 10:31 (NLT) whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Take pride in what you do. Wether you enjoy doing it or not. Whatever work you are doing, do it as if you are working for the Lord.

Just another lesson from being "Raised in a Barn"